unmarked graves of unknown soldiers — how relatives of soldiers. A City In Its Nakedness starkly portrays the loneliness and despair of a woman living alone in Delhi who befriends a poor young boy, educates him with disastrous consequences. Parasu Pator’s Well speaks about a young boy and his battle against the diminishing humanity of people. Purification Sanskaar brings out the degradation of human beings by social and cultural compulsions. The reader is moved by the desperation of a childless man to father a child. The Empty Box is the story of a young woman living near a cremation ground whose nostalgic memories and illusion of love are cruelly shattered. Ishwaree is based on the first hand experiences gained by the author (who was also a Ramayana scholar) when she attended a Ramayana conference in Janakpuri, Nepal. The time frame of the stories stretches from the thirties upto the present when Assam is torn apart by different militant movements. Dr Goswami's eye for detail in her beautiful descriptions — whether of the trout in the Dikhari river, the lilting joyous Bihu song or the chirping of the little fesulika birds is simply wonderful. The end of each story catches the reader unawares leaving him filled with a variety of emotions — both of wonder and despair.